Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like the PVE leveling in this game is essentially the same as what countless people on this forum have been complaining about for years (WoW clone themepark) and on the same level of bad as Neverwinter or Tera quests.
However, this is tolerable for you because leveling is quick and you can get finished with themepark portion of the game in a couple of weeks and move on to the sandbox portion of the game, which is where the game really shines. Did I interpret you correctly?
One thing that has me curious is when you say leveling is quick and will only take most players a couple of weeks. That contradicts the stereotype of grinding associated with Asian MMOs, especially so since the designer of this game also designed Lineage. I wonder if the leveling curve in the alpha has been sped up significantly so you can test end game content?
Leveling is the same as RU or KR. So its not sped up. Korean Lineage and Aion style grinds to level haven't been around since, well, lineage and aion. Tera was a breeze to level in as an example and Archeage is even easier. The old Korean level grinds don't exist in the games they are bringing here.
Games are all about trade offs. I accept the trade off that the leveling isn't super awesome sauce because the rest of the game is excellent. In addition, just because a game has quests doesn't mean that they are = in the leveling experience.
Lets take WildStar and NWN as examples.
Both of those games have more or less identical leveling and Archeage has quests in a similar vein. Just like every recent game with the exception of GW2. The games however play entirely different. I spit at leveling in Wildstar and didn't make it to end game in NWN because those games ultimately had no draw for me. Archeage has more to offer.
First the world is different. Archeage is open, seamless and massive. NWN is a tiny corridor and feels exactly like that from start to finish. Wildstar is somewhere in the middle but still feels very cattle call like for me. Engine performance and world design play into this heavily. Archeage feels like an actual world not just some zone designer_212 put together.
Second not every game has the same number of distractions and if they do have distractions they are often shallow. One thing that helps immensely in Archeage is that about 10 - 15 mobs = 1 quest and harvesting / refining / crafting is also excellent xp. Same thing with trade runs, getting your farm set up and in production and your housing. You can spend several nights a week working on a lot of different things other than leveling because they are all super rewarding and you forget that you still have 30 levels to go in game. You can very easily get distracted. This isn't even taking into account PvP, GvG, the under water content, naval stuff, contested mobs, contested resources and a plethora of other stuff in game.
Third you will see enemies in your leveling areas. Lots of care bears might not like that and if that is the case they can do other things while the zones are at war. There are options. There is a certain dynamic to the game that you can't really find easily in the genre. You will be heavily encouraged to interact with people including the other faction. Sure some games throw PVP in and some even have open world PVP but it is an after thought. Not so in Archeage. The PVP isn't harsh enough to bottom feed everyone out of existence like in Darkfall or some of the other hard core games but its satisfying enough and good enough that it feels very well balanced. Key word is balanced, at least reasonable so.
Fourth the skill system is diverse and outstanding. Not since Shadowbane have I been this impressed with the player classes. Much of these games is about character development and player interaction. Most of the newer games are so stale in this regard and sterile that its not nearly as satisfying as games of old. Something Wildstar and NWN suffer from. There is no Fireball 1, fireball 2 etc. Take a look at the skill builders, there are tons of awesome skills and a variety of great paths that actually VARY and are VIABLE. There will be a lot of diversity in player builds in game.
Fifth the meta game will be alive and flourishing. There are tons of little and some really big things that are going to be interesting for those that enjoy that stuff. There will be lots of forum drama, even more in game drama and things are going to be interesting. Most games are so sterile and linear that this hasn't really been the case much. There are going to be some incredible feuds playing out.
Sixth this game was designed from the ground up for players and guilds to interact and kill each other on a variety of levels. If you don't like PvP or don't normally look for it don't worry it will find you. If that bothers you then go back to panda land or sit there and bang your head against a keep door that will get taken and retaken over and over 500x before the campaign is up.
There are games where what you do mean pretty much nothing and there are games where you actions can have consequence. Archeage is the later. Hardly perfect but by far the most complete game to come out in a very long time.
